A: It has to do with money. Most of the fluoride added to public water supplies (silicofluorides) comes from toxic waste which is collected in the smokestacks of fertilizer manufacturers. Besides containing fluoride, this waste contains amounts of arsenic, mercury, lead, cadmium, and other toxins which are packaged and sold to cities to be put into the water. Children in fluoridated cities have been shown to have lowered IQs, presumably as a consequence of these ingested toxins. The fertilizer industry not only makes money from the sale of this waste but they also avoid having to pay many thousands of dollars per truck load to properly dispose of it in toxic waste sites. The officials at the EPA are party to this corporate/financial arrangement even though the scientists who work there and are familiar with the research have called for a moratorium on water fluoridation. Unfortunately, the bureaucrats make policy instead of the scientists.
Dr. Lee once related a story to me about meeting with scientists at the EPA, some of whom lost their jobs for speaking out against fluoridation. He said that some of the scientists conducted an informal study with their family members who had fibromyalgia. By having them stop drinking the city's fluoridated water in Washington D.C., their fibromyalgia symptoms vanished. The symptoms reemerged when consuming the tap water. Fibromyalgia was turned on and off just by changing the water. Incidentally, it appears that another toxin in our food chain, aspartame (Nutrasweet) has a similar effect on symptoms of fibromyalgia.
Q: Besides your warnings about toxins in our food and water, your book offers positive dietary advice on how to improve health. Do you have one favorite bit of advice you would like to share?
A: I think that advice would be not to fear natural food. We need to be cautious, of course, about modern foods like refined sugars and grains, refined, polyunsaturated vegetable oils, and the trans fats in partially-hydrogenated oil. We need to be aware of where toxins in our food are coming from. But to fear natural saturated fats and cholesterol in foods is misguided. Older women with higher cholesterol levels, for example, live the longest, and saturated fat protects the liver and immune system and helps us utilize the all-important omega-3 fatty acids. We cannot be afraid to eat free-range eggs or grass-fed meats and dairy which contain high levels of a fatty acid (CLA) which appears to offer protection against cancer, heart disease, and obesity.
Coconut oil, lard and other staples have nourished traditional societies for decades and continue to do so in certain parts of the world. They have played a key role in preventing the kind of degenerative diseases so common today in industrialized societies. The focus, of course, should not be on pharmaceutical means to prevent osteoporosis, heart disease and the like, but rather on exercise and eating whole, nutrient-dense, traditional foods.
Q: Please tell us how to obtain your book.
A: Yes, thank you. "Politically Incorrect Nutrition" can be purchased at www.vitalhealthbooks.com or at www.foodintegrity.com, the web site which my publisher and I have set up to provide information about food, water, and the environment. I can also be contacted to answer individual questions about diet and food via www.foodintegrity.com.
